Sweet (16) Emotion!
WHAT’S ON TAP . . . Third-seeded Oregon will take on seventh-seeded Nevada-Las Vegas in an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game on Friday, March 23 at 6:40 p.m. (PDT) in St. Louis, Mo. The winner of that game will face the winner of the Florida-Butler game in the Midwest Regional final on Sunday, March 25.
NCAA NOTES . . . Oregon is now 11-7 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and 5-3 under current head coach Ernie Kent (four appearances). The Ducks have advanced to the regional semifinals for the fifth time in school history (1939, 1945, 1960, 2002, 2007) by virtue of their 58-56 first round win against Miami (Ohio) and their 75-51 second round win over Winthrop in Spokane, Wash.
Oregon is making its ninth NCAA Tournament appearance in school history. The Ducks last appeared in the NCAA Tournament in 2003, losing as a No. 8-seed in the first round to Utah 60-58.
The year before that (2002) as a No. 2 seed, the Pac-10 regular season champion Ducks advanced to the Elite Eight, defeating Montana, Wake Forest and Texas before falling to top-seeded Kansas. It was Oregon’s first appearance in the regional final in 42 years. The Ducks also have NCAA appearances in 2000, 1995, 1961 and 1960.
Oregon won the very first NCAA Championship in 1939 (defeating Ohio State, 46-33), and the leading scorer in that game (16 points) Ret. Navy RADM John Dick, a UO season ticket holder who attends nearly every home game, will accompany the team to St. Louis.
TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS . . . UNLV won the 2007 Mountain West Conference tournament and will be the third straight conference tournament champion the Ducks will face in this year’s NCAA Tournament. Oregon opened with Miami (Ohio), champions of the Mid-American tournament, followed by Big South tournament champ Winthrop. The Ducks are tournament champions themselves and are now the only team to have won the Pac-10 tourney title twice since it was brought back in 2002.
See the Article Downloads to the right for complete NCAA game notes.
